Surviving Picon
by Wes Imlay
Summary: This is the story of a group of cadets who survive the destruction of the Colonial Fleet Academy and their fight to stay alive until they can be rescued.


**Surviving Picon:**

**Chapter One: Eye of the Storm**

**Colonial Fleet Academy:**

**Four Days Before the Fall:**

"Get up Lynsie, you know what we have to do today," Cadet Lacey Tolan of the Colonial Fleet Academy Sophomore class said as she shook her friend and roommate to try to wake her up.

"Do I have to?" Sophomore cadet Lynsie Medford said as she sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes like a sleepy nine year old schoolgirl who had just been woken up by her mother.

"We're the ones who have to help get those freshmen ready for the River Run, it's part of our job and it's going to be harder if Duval hasn't woken up yet," explained Lacey for what felt like the hundredth time. Despite all her warnings to her fellow classmates the night before Lacey's pleas had fallen on deaf ears much to her annoyance.

Lacey and Medford both served as Residential Assistants on the third floor of Chandler Hall. The dorm was split into a section for men and women. On the third floor Lacey and Medford were in charge on the women's side while on the men's side it was sophomore cadets Marcel Duval and Joseph Stryker in charge.

"You know it was your evil cousin who was supposed to be doing this," Medford complained as she got out of bed and tried to shake off the sleepiness.

"Well she had to find someway to pay me back for taking her down in the showers," Lacey said. She and Sophia Tolen were from the same family on Canceron, the great split having occurred when Carl Tolen began to come to power with the Basileus. He was cast out of the family, and changed the spelling of his last name to reflect his apostate status. Since that time there had been a bitter feud between the Tolens and the Tolans.

"She manages to free herself from physical training to go gallivanting on Ostarsis with her friends while we get stuck here on campus doing high-altitude training with the freshmen. Yeah, I'd say the family is still going strong here," Medford said as she changed into her exercise clothes.

"Gods help me if she ever gets promoted ahead of me, I may have to use Scott's influence to keep me safe," Lacey joked. Scott Tolan, her first-cousin, was a Rear Admiral in the Colonial Fleet and one of the three men who were decidedly protective when it came to her. The other two were Commander Artimus Bowman of the Hermes and Commander Tyrone Carter of the Sphinx, both men serving as honorary uncles who took their titles very seriously. One word that could describe Lacey Tolan was 'connected' but although she joked about using her influence she never would. She was often stubborn and head-strong, both traits of the Tolans, and wanted to build a name for herself off her own merit.

"For what it's worth, I know having you in charge of the training is making one freshman very happy," Medford said in a teasing manner.

"Cadet Callahan, I almost forgot he was among the freshmen slated to take part in this," Tolan said knowing what Medford was talking about. Clay Callahan had apparently developed a crush on her earlier in the year, after she had come back from her Junius Break on Canceron and started her sophomore year.

"Of course you did, I'm sure your other toy boy on Caprica would appreciate that one."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lacey said trying to feign confusion over what her friend had said.

"Sure you don't, I read that one e-mail 'J.D.' sent you last month. You know, the one where he said that he had broken up with Melissa and had been thinking of you lately," Medford grinned at making her friend feel a bit uncomfortable about the college student she had met on Canceron during her break.

"I told him it wouldn't work between us, he's busy with his life on Caprica and I'm far too busy here trying to get ready for Viper training. Let's face it Lynsie, I'm swamped," Lacey said though her mind went back to those events that had taken place on Canceron. Even though she did not want to admit it, she had grown fond of James David 'J.D.' Livingston and the two had stayed in touch after the break was over.

"Of course you are, we're all swamped at the moment but I've seen the pictures of him and that's a catch you need to get a hold of before another woman swoops in."

Lacey simply shook her head, "It's more complicated than that, I can have a love life once I get Princess Sophia to stop making my life a living hell. Besides, if you think he's such a catch why don't you go for him?"

"Why not get your cousin or your two honorary uncles involved?"

"Scott is a wildcard on that one but I know he would get Sophia sent packing from here because he does have some influential friends. Artimus and Tyrone would probably put an almighty fright into her that she'd never recover from."

"Are they really that bad?"

Lacey nodded her head, "Tyrone Carter is a giant who looks like he could easily break you in half and Artimus Bowman was a champion boxer on the Abry Academy boxing team, combine that and you'll stay awake at night thinking of what they could do to you. Knowing those two they would join up and that's one doorbell you wouldn't rush to answer."

The two girls giggled as they finished getting ready.

There was a common area in the middle of the floor where cadets from both sides of the building could mingle, right now it was empty as it was time for the cadets to still be in their bunks getting the rest they would need for the grueling day that lay ahead for them.

"Sleeping Beauties, I hope the extra rest did you some good," Joseph Stryker said as he raised his cup of coffee in salute to the two women when they entered the commons area.

"Looks like you two pretty boys could have used some extra sleep. It's like you tried for the rugged look and failed miserably," Medford retorted with glee at watching her insult land on their unsuspecting male counterparts.

"Couldn't have put it better myself Lynsie!" Lacey exclaimed as her and Medford exchanged high-fives.

"I hope you're ready for a day in the mountains, you have done high-altitude training right?" Duval said with a wicked grin that did not hide what he felt the answer would be.

"Don't worry about us Duval, the question is can you and Stryker keep up with us?" Tolan asked challengingly. "Well?"

"Enough of the trash-talking, we have some freshman to wake up and run ragged so let's get to it," Stryker said as he put down his coffee cup and stretched.

The next half hour was spent getting the freshmen out of their racks and into formation for physical training. Lacey Tolan remembered when she was a freshman and how the older cadets reveled in the perverse pleasure from kicking her out of bed and screaming at her like one of those Drill Sergeants in those Gods-awful Tauron war movies. Now it was her turn and she didn't hold back.

"Come on people you're wasting my frakking time!" Lacey bellowed while secretly concealing a cheeky smile. She went into the rooms and roused the freshmen cadets who were about as hard to rouse as Medford had been but she persevered nevertheless.

"You heard her, get out of bed and get moving. Show some life people!" Medford called out as she got the cadets up she was responsible for on her side of the hall.

The four sophomores stood outside on the parade ground in front of Chandler Hall and waited as the freshman filed out and into position.

"You know what, I think there's something to be said about it taking men less time to get ready," Stryker said as he looked over at Lacey and Medford with a look that suggested he had won some sort of competition.

"Sit on it and rotate Stryker, you too Duval," Medford said before Lacey could stop her.

When the last of the cadets were in place, Lacey stepped out in front of them and walked across the assembled freshman and then across the way she had just came.

"Alright freshmen listen up," she began, "This morning we are going to take a nice jog up to the top of Mount Gallatin here in the Mayrant Range that you see the everyday from our campus," she gestured to the mountain range that was located directly behind the city of Kios where both Colonial Fleet Headquarters and the Fleet Academy were located. She stepped back to her spot while Joseph Stryker began addressing the cadets.

"You may not know this but up at the top of Mount Gallatin there is a building known as Branch Hall, this is where we will be staying for the next week while we conduct our high-altitude physical training so you will be ready for the Tanais River Run and not fall out like a bunch of good-for-frak-all newbies greener than the grass on Aerilon! Supplies have been delivered and will be waiting there for us when we arrive. Begin stretching, it's going to be a long jog," Stryker went back to his spot and when the stretching was done he nodded to Lacey who blew a whistle and began jogging with her three fellow sophomores.

**Mount Gallatin, Branch Hall: **

"Great work there, I want you all to get in there to shower up and get some rest. You might think that jog was the start of the training but the truth is tomorrow we begin the actual physical training," Lacey said to her group of female cadets who began to shuffle through the door into the building in a fashion that resembled a two-cubit zombie horror movie. It was obvious by the looks on their faces that they had been worked hard by the jog up the mountain. It was a credit to them that they did not have to stop, only slow down in some spots because of the terrain.

"How do you feel?" Medford asked Lacey once the last of the cadets were inside.

"I wish they had built a hot tub in there so I could soak in some water for a few hours Lacey said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Did I just hear the mention of a hot tub?" Marcel Duval said as he and Stryker came around to the ridge the two women were standing at.

"So glad to see you have your priorities in order Marcel," Lacey said with a laugh.

"Can you blame him; we're the ones leading this group for the next week and a half so why shouldn't we have a few perks?" Stryker said.

"We have an entire week here doing nothing but training, we can only hope there's something up here to make it worth our while," Medford said.

"Yeah, the pleasure of having you two ladies here is quite nice but somehow it's not that different from when we're living in the dorm. I can only imagine what meals the two of you will whip up for Jason and I," Duval asked with a mischievous smile, drawing a punch in the arm from both Lacey and Medford

"You should be glad you won't have us cooking for you, there's no telling what 'special ingredients' Lace and I could put into your food. The Academy stocked the place up with plenty of MREs to keep us happy for the next week," Medford said as she tried to keep a straight face.

**Branch Hall, Third Floor, Room 219**

The rooms inside Branch Hall were made to accommodate four bunks with a small locker for personal items. Room 219 housed freshman cadets Ismail Mian, Simeon Kitts, Kyle Brannon, and Clay Callahan had discovered that an ingenious cadet had smuggled a television set into the room and the four wasted no time in finding out just what was available for them to watch.

"Are we even supposed to have this on?" Kitts asked as he lay on his bunk.

"We have it turned down low, I doubt any of our sophomore overlords will even notice," Brannon said.

"I don't know, I think I would like to have Cadet Tolan stop by and visit us," Callahan said with a sly smile.

"I've met her cousin before, you might want to be careful around her," Brannon warned.

"That's right; you're from Canceron aren't you?" Mian asked.

"Born and raised, and she's the granddaughter of the man who founded the Basileus. My dad worked with them until a year ago," Brannon said.

"What caused him to stop working for them?" Kitts asked.

"To put it politely, he had a certain Colonial Fleet officer convince him to 'retire' from the Basileus. Admiral Tolan made sure I got an appointment here to the Academy and he arranged for my family to move from Canceron and relocate to Caprica," Brannon said as he remembered the day he had discovered that they were moving from Amarna, Canceron to the small upscale community of Tyana, Caprica. Their new place of residence was located outside of Delphi.

"At least we get to watch a Neveah Ratliff movie, I swear if I ever meet her in person I'm going to propose marriage," Mian said as he tried to move the conversation to a lighter topic.

"Which one is this again?" Brannon asked, he too was ready to move on to a different topic.

"_The Cursed Boat_, I read the book a couple of years ago but never got to see the movie," Kitts said.

None of the four heard the door to the room open and did not realize that there was a person standing there in the door quietly watching them watch the television, since it was lights-out there was no explanation for the set being on in the first place. They heard a throat being cleared and turned to see who had made the noise. There in the doorway stood Marcel Duval, with a less-than-pleased expression on his face.

"Care to explain what I'm looking at?" he asked.

"Oh that," Brannon said as he fumbled to get his thoughts in order, "we can explain that."

"Of course we can, you see we thought we had till later in the night to have our televisions turned off," Mian said.

"I see, so you just browsed through the rules and instead of checking to make sure you just assumed. So this is all just a big misunderstanding?" Duval asked.

"Exactly, this is just a mishap on our part and we'll now turn the set off and call it a night," Kitts said.

"Of course you will, after you've done a few miles of jogging with me outside. I think it will help get your mind in the right perspective. You have five minutes to change into your running attire and meet me at the entrance," Duval said as he turned and walked away from the door.

**Branch Hall, Second Floor, Room 146:**

Cadets Trina Valdez, Shana Franklin, Celeste Erickson, and Tiffany Joyce had set up a small table in the middle of the room for an impromptu game of Triad.

"Tiff, if this game was for money you would owe me big!" Celeste Erickson exclaimed.

"Nice try Celeste, no way your hand can be that good," Trina Valdez said skeptically.

"It's probably about as good as the Black Knights pyramid team," Shana Franklin said which drew a laugh from the other girls. Abry Military Academy, the Colonial Fleet Academy, and Aquaria Military Academy each fielded a team in the various college sports. Every year the Abry Black Knights, the Aquaria Volunteers, and the Fleet Academy Midshipmen played some of the more heated match-ups on the schedule with the winner receiving that year's Commander-In-Chief Trophy that would be presented by the President of the Colonies.

"Considering they had a losing record last year, I guess that shows how much you know about my hand," Erickson said with a sly grin.

"Did you think our two sophomores enjoyed their power trip this morning?" Joyce asked.

"Medford I'm not too sure about, but Tolan seemed to be enjoying it," Valdez said.

"Considering her family and who her cousin is I guess it's natural," Franklin commented, though her voice was lower than usual as though she was afraid someone would be listening in.

"What do you mean?" Erickson asked.

"I heard from a reliable source that she's from a crime family back on Canceron and that her cousin is a flag officer in the Fleet," Franklin said.

"No frakking way, what's the name of the crime family?" Joyce asked.

"You really have no idea?" Franklin asked incredulously.

"No, my family had no dealings with Canceron so I don't know much about that colony."

"Have you heard of the Basileus?" Valdez asked.

Joyce nodded her head, "Yeah and none of it has been good. You mean she's…" Joyce could not finish she sentence as it dawned on her.

"Yep, she's a member of the Tolan family, the same family that runs the Basileus Crime Syndicate on Canceron. So if you want to survive this week you may want to make sure you stay on her good side," Franklin said.

"Of course, any idea how I can do that?" Joyce asked.

"May I make a suggestion?" Erickson asked her.

"Yes, what is it?"

Erickson thought for a moment before she said, "I can sum my advice for you up in three words: be less annoying."

"Very funny," Joyce said once the girls had finished laughing.

"Doesn't she have family here too?" Joyce asked.

Erickson nodded her head, "She has a cousin here named Sophia Tolen, she's junior I believe. From what I hear though those two hate each other with a passion."

"Do you have an idea why?" Franklin asked.

"I heard something about it," Valdez offered.

"I'd love to hear it!" Joyce said.

"They're both from Canceron and there's been a family feud going ever since Tolan's grandfather started the Basileus crime syndicate. Those two families have been going at it ever since and there's a lot of bad blood. You have Sophia who is here because her father is close friends with Admiral Robert Wilson and Lacey who is here because her cousin is a flag officer and got her an appointment," Valdez said. She had heard this through various friends who knew both girls, it seemed the temperature in the room dropped considerably whenever Sophia Tolen and Lacey Tolan were in there together.

"On a different note, which of the men would you rather go for; Stryker or Duval?"

"Oh I could go for some one-on-one physical training with Stryker," Valdez said.

"Duval is easy on the eyes too," Erickson said.

"Alright ladies, lights out on the hall!" Lynsie Medford called out down the hallway with a voice that left no doubt that there had best be no rays of light coming out from under the doors of the rooms.

**Branch Hall, First Floor, Room 173:**

Lacey Tolan sat at the computer in her office putting together an e-mail she was intending to send to Melissa Saunders. Since hearing about her breakup with J.D. Livingston she had meant to ask her friend how she was doing.

_Melissa,_

_I heard about you and J.D. breaking up, I don't know all the details but I hope you're holding up ok. If I wasn't here conducting high-altitude physical training with the freshmen cadets I'd be there to help you get over this. I guess I should let you know that I consider J.D. a friend, and nothing more than that. If you were worried that the two of us would start dating now that he's no longer with you then let me assure you there's nothing to worry about. _

Lacey stopped and thought of that day on Canceron a year ago when she had brought up the possibility of her and J.D. Livingston dating, and that he had decided that he'd rather be in a relationship with Melissa than her. She had promised that day that she would not be his 'Plan B' in case things between him and Melissa did not work out.

"Would you like some coffee?" Joseph Stryker asked as he held a steaming cup in each hand.

"Would I ever, thank you Stryker," Lacey said as she took one of the cups.

"Don't get too excited, it looks like they packed us decaf by mistake."

"Go figure, I'll take what I can get though," Lacey said after taking a sip of the hot beverage.

"Lace, I've been thinking..." Stryker began.

"That's got me worried," she teased.

Stryker held his hands up in mock surrender, "I know, dangerous stuff. I was wondering about why we're doing this."

"Doing what exactly?"

"This," Stryker said as he motioned with his arms to the walls of the room. Are we doing this to get these freshmen in shape for the River Run and perhaps better ourselves in the process?"

"Stryker you should just confess that you do this so that you can meet women when you have your uniform and viper wings."

Lacey took another drink of the coffee and shivered slightly.

"Are you okay?" Stryker asked.

"There's something with this coffee, it sent shivers through my body," she saw the look on Stryker's face and added, "Don't flatter yourself, I'm pretty sure it's not you."

"A pity, you might find you're missing out," Stryker said.

"I'll take my chances if it's all the same to you," Lacey responded.

"What is it about you avoiding a love life?" Stryker asked.

"I don't have time for it for one, and the other is that as long as Sophia is here I get painted with broad brush of a crime family," Lacey said with no loss of bitterness to her voice.

"You might find someone who doesn't care what your cousin has to say about that," Stryker said.

"I've heard that one before, last year there was a cadet in our class named Roderick Watts and we almost had a date," Lacey said.

"You mean you and Rod were on the verge of dating? I had no idea," Stryker exclaimed.

"Well there was progress being made there until Sophia found out and she pulled some strings and next thing I know I'm out in the cold again," Lacey said as she took another sip of the coffee. Decaf or not it was good to have a drink that was warm.

"How's your cousin, the one that you do get along with?" Stryker asked as he tried to change the subject.

"Don't know, his battle group is out on deployment but I don't know exactly where he's at."

"You know my grandfather didn't speak very highly of him," Stryker admitted, bringing up an event that neither of them spoke of.

"How can I forget? The great Fleet Admiral Stryker practically insulted Scott's promotion to flag rank," Lacey said with an audible sigh. Fleet Admiral Jonas Ingram Stryker, the man who led the Colonial Fleet from its inception to the end of the Cylon War, had lived to be an old man. It was three years ago when the nine-five year old admiral was asked about the promotion of Scott Tolan to the rank of Rear Admiral. The man had caused a stir when he said that it was a dark day for the Colonies when a Tolan was made a flag officer.

"He told us that he had met your grandfather and it was not a particularly pleasant experience. It isn't that hard to believe because of your family."

"Yes I know that we're all a bunch murderous thugs who only know a life of crime. It always seems to follow those of us who don't end up working as part of the Basileus."

"Well if the shoe fits," Stryker said and he immediately regretted his choice of words.

Lacey was out of her chair and pushing him out the door, "Go aggravate someone else for a chance!"

With the door closed, Lacey went back to her e-mail to Melissa Saunders. When she was done with that she was going to write to Brooke Bowman to see how she was holding up with the teacher's strike, there was a part of her that worried what plans President Richard Adar had in mind for the teachers. She prayed that he would not bring the troops in as he had done with past protest groups.

She sat down at the computer and opened up a new window to start writing an e-mail to Brooke, her honorary aunt on Caprica. Her mind also went back to the last serious boyfriend she had, his name was David Black and he was in her graduating class in high school. They had started dating back during her sophomore year and they had stayed together until it they realized that with him going to Caprica for college and her going to the Fleet Academy on Picon that it was doubtful their relationship would work. There had been a graduation party thrown at her Aunt Sylvia's house in Clio on Canceron and it coincided with the end of one of the deployments for Battlestar Group 66. Scott had brought his wife and the triplets with them; they went into Amarna with Sylvia while Scott and his friend Commander Tyrone Carter had stayed at the house to supervise things.

David had wanted to 'seal the deal' with her before the officially went their separate ways but she was having none of it. All it took was for Carter to see what David was trying and he stepped in to put her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend in his place.

Combine that with the rumors that were around the campus of the Fleet Academy about her involvement with the Basileus and having any kind of romance was not an option for her right now.

Outside the door to her room Stryker stood there stunned at what had happened, 'It seems I touched a nerve with her,' he thought to himself as he made his way back to his room.

**Branch Hall, Second Floor, Room 206:**

Lynsie Medford sat in her chair and entered the numbers needed to make her phone call. Jordan–Hare University was one of the colleges located in Luminere, the capital of her home colony of Leonis. The phone began to ring and she waited to hear the voice on the other end.

"Hello," a man's voice said.

"Hey Link, how's life on Leonis?" she asked.

"You know how it is here at the university, all work and no play," Lincoln Chapin said.

"Knowing you, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't the other way around," Medford said with a laugh.

"You know me well Lynsie, to think it wasn't that long ago when we were running the streets of our small town," Chapin said, drawing a laugh from both of them.

"The Larimore PD were probably glad to see us get out of town, I wonder how the rest of the gang is doing," Medford said, she was part of a group of five friends who were known for staying out past curfew, throwing parties that sometimes got the police called, and in general acted every bit the stereotype of reckless teenagers.

"Gene and Cat are going to school at Wyndmere College and Tori is on her honeymoon at Caprica Beach," Chapin said. 'Gene' and 'Cat' were the nicknames given to Eugene Metzel and Catalina Howard. Tori was the nickname of Victoria Simmons.

"Who'd Tori marry?" Medford asked.

"She married Shayne Avery; it was one of those sudden ceremonies if you know what I mean."

"You mean she was…" Medford did not finish the sentence; Chapin's laughter was all the confirmation she needed.

"It seemed it was one of those 'shotgun' weddings and Shayne had no desire to be shot."

"I bet. Is there anything new with the rest of your family?" she asked.

"Colin is enjoying his freshman year of high school, seems following in my and Christina's footsteps didn't cause too much pressure to be put on him. He's doing well on the JV pyramid team. Have you talked to your parents lately?"

Medford was quiet for a moment before she spoke, "It seems they've been busy each time I've tried to call them. Whether it's at home or at the shop there's something going on that they can't be bothered to stop and talk to me."

"I take it they still aren't happy that you left for Picon," Chapin said.

"Not particularly, I was supposed to stay on Leonis and go to a local school and help with the family business. Instead I went off to Picon to learn to fly Vipers and pursue a career in the military. Maybe one day they'll forgive me for that."

"You didn't do anything wrong, you had a chance of a lifetime and you took it. Would you rather be doing this or running the local general store that just happens to be owned by your parents?"

"You know the answer Link, I'm here doing this instead of going back home. "

"I know, and there you are up in the mountains preparing to put a group of freshmen through a week of intense training, but at least you get to give the orders and enjoy the view…you seemed to have always enjoyed that."

"Enjoyed what?" Medford asked though she knew what he was referring to.

"Giving orders of course, you were always so great at telling us what to do whenever we hung out."

She could not help but laugh, "If I were there now you'd have a good punch to the arm from me."

"Lynsie if you were here with me now we'd have broken the rules on having visitors in our rooms and we'd be in some serious trouble."

Medford looked at the clock, "I hate to do this Link but I need to get some sleep before we start training tomorrow, a cadet's work is never done."

"Sure Lynz, you get some sleep and we'll talk again soon. It was good to hear from you."

"You too Link, we'll talk next week when this craziness is over."

**Branch Hall, First Floor, Room 173:**

Lacey finished up her e-mail and turned off the computer, she knew the upcoming days were going to be as rough on her as they would be on the freshmen but she was not about to let that little fact become known. She pushed her chair away from the desk and stood up to stretch, it was then that she heard a knock on her door. She tried to guess who it was, figuring it was probably one of the freshmen needing her assistance. She opened up the door and saw who was there.

"Oh, it's you," she said.

"I believe in most cultures this would be considered a peace offering," Joseph Stryker said as he held up a cup of what smelled like coffee.

"It might, but I'm not the type to consider decaf a peace offering," she replied.

"You think I'm crazy enough to insult you with that Lace, this is the real deal…one hundred percent caffeinated goodness," Stryker said as he held the cup under her nose so she could smell that it was in fact regular coffee.

"You're right," she said as she took the cup and took a drink.

"May I come in?" he asked.

"You've bought yourself a few minutes," she said as she stepped aside to let him enter.

"In case you're wondering, I was able to get a container of Scorpia coffee sent up here," Stryker said as though he was anticipating her next question.

"How were you able to pull that off?" she asked.

"I'm the grandson of the great Admiral Jonas Stryker, the name comes in handy in some circles."

Lacey sat down and took another sip, "Must be a nice problem to have."

"You may think it is but really it's not all it's cracked up to be. I want to apologize for earlier when I brought up that comment about your cousin making flag rank. It was something that came out of my mind before I could even stop it."

"Bring me a hot chocolate in the morning and you'll be completely forgiven, but the coffee goes a long way," she said as she finally smiled at him.

"Tell me something Lace, what is it about criticism of you or your cousin that touches a nerve with you? It's just not like you to be so touchy about a subject like that," Stryker had an idea but he was not about to jump to conclusions.

"I've spent my whole life trying to live down my last name. On Canceron the Tolan name is held in some awe but mainly it's a name to be feared. It colors people's perceptions of who you are before they even meet you. The few Tolans who have tried to make a life outside of the Basileus find it's almost impossible, and worse is that the family business keeps pulling them back in. Truth is that with the exception of Scott I'm nothing like my family and have never wanted to be," Lacey had a far-off look in her eye as though she was remembering something but was not sharing it with Stryker.

"I know it's the opposite but you're not the only one who carries a burden because of a last name. You have to understand that there's a certain image the Stryker family has to maintain. My brother Paul and I both wanted to join the Colonial Fleet and add to the family legacy. However, there's added pressure to live up to the man who helped form the Fleet. We always have to live up to his image," Stryker said as though this was something he rarely shared with anyone. He decided to add more last thing, "If you ask me for my opinion, I think you've done a fine job so far of proving you're not like the rest of your family,"

"Hey Joe, thanks for the coffee and the vote of confidence," Lacey said with an appreciative smile.

"You're welcome, I'll try to have the hot chocolate for you in the morning," Stryker said as he left the room and closed the door behind him.


End file.
